Farmland connectivity threshold adjustment based on landscape ecological indexes

Objective Concentrated connectivity is the propulsion in current farmland consolidation, and concentrated connectivity threshold has a direct effect on engineering cost. This research focuses on studying the adjustment method of concentrated connectivity threshold based on landscape ecological indexes.

Method Five landscape ecological indexes, which were obtained based on special processing functions in GIS platform, were used to achieve the quantitative evaluation of farmland connectivity. Based on the buffer function in GIS platform, the changes of farmland connectivity were simulated by setting different threshold d_x. The curve of farmland connectivity was observed when the threshold d_x was changing, and the optimal connectivity threshold d₀ was identified.

Result Taking farmland in Luoding City, Guangdong Province as an example, when the consolidation threshold ranged from 0 to 50 m, the optimal connectivity threshold d₀ was 12 m. The farmlands, which separated less than or equal to 12 m, should be connected. As the experiment was repeated in Gaoming District of Foshan City, the optimal connectivity threshold was also found, which testified the feasibility of this method.

Conclusion The method, which finds the optimal connectivity threshold based on landscape ecological indexes, is straightforward, reliable and pervasive, and can provide the technical reference for national farmland consolidation.